Divine Realm, Forest of Life.
As the residence of the Goddess of Life, precisely because of her quiet nature and focus on creation, coupled with her need to observe the changes in the Divine Realm up close, her dwelling was located at the edge of the Divine Realm.
At this moment, seven figures were streaking across the sky of the Divine Realm, heading toward the Forest of Life. Although these seven figures had varying physiques and some were quite unsightly, not a single passing god dared to look down on them. For these seven gods were the Lord Gods under the command of the God of Destruction—the Gods of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Not only were they powerful individually, but they were also a seven-in-one entity.
Right now, these seven gods had once again received a summons from the God of Destruction. As for why they were rushing to the Forest of Life...
Who didn't know that the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life, these two God Kings, were a married couple? Who didn't know that the Castle of Destruction wasn't a comfortable place to stay? So where else would their Lord be right now if not on his wife's territory?
"Say..."
During their high-speed flight, a woman suddenly spoke.
"What merits does that guy have? To actually be valued so highly by our Lord and Lady, and even have us jointly bestow a trial upon him. If he really succeeds, once he ascends to the Divine Realm, the status of us Seven Deadly Sin Gods will probably have to take a step back in front of our Lord. Let's not forget, there's already a 'Devastation' ahead of us."
(T/N: God of Devastation is an alias of Zhou Weiqing, the God of Damage)
Her brows were tightly locked, and her eyes seemed to hold endless unwillingness and jealousy. Moreover, her appearance was extremely ugly—one eye big, the other small, a collapsed nose bridge, and a wide mouth. Not only was she short in stature, but her shoulders were also slanted, and the tone of her voice was even more gloomy and envious. In the eyes of the other six gods, however, this was a common sight.
"Envy, why are you being so long-winded."
A golden-haired man glanced back at the God of Envy, his eyes full of disdain and contempt. "Since this is the Lord's idea, we Seven Deadly Sin Gods should naturally comply. Anyway, the trials have already been set. As for status and whatnot... once he comes up, we'll just fight him! He's just a little guy. Even if he succeeds, he'll just be someone like Poseidon. In the future, I alone can easily suppress him!"
By the end, the golden-haired man's tone was entirely arrogant.
This indeed matched the identity of the God of Pride.
But his words...
Heh—
In the ears of the other six gods, they all secretly sneered.
Just someone like Poseidon.
If Poseidon really came, you'd be beaten to a pulp and then be unhappy about it. Who didn't know that when Poseidon became a god, his strength once made him the number one god below the Five God Kings, and the Golden Trident he wielded was at the Super Divine Artifact level.
However, they were all old friends who had been together for who knows how many years. Clearly, just like with the God of Envy, they knew the God of Pride's disposition, so they just let him have his moment of fantasy.
In any case, each God of Original Sin held different views on that young man from the Douluo Plane who was favored by their Lord.
Like the God of Lust: 'I wonder if this handsome young man, once he ascends to the Divine Realm, could come visit my place?'
Like the God of Wrath: 'Hmph—I don't know what abilities he has! He better not be all talk and no substance in the end!'
Like the God of Sloth: 'ZZZ…'
Uh—never mind the last one.
Harboring their respective thoughts, they flew forward rapidly.
Soon, the sky ahead suddenly turned a faint green. Although there was still a certain distance, with every breath, the Seven Deadly Sin Gods all clearly felt their entire bodies become more unobstructed. An extremely rich life force poured into their bodies, causing the circulation speed of their own Heaven and Earth Origin Energy to visibly increase.
As expected, it's most comfortable at the Lady's place!
As one of the oldest gods in the Divine Realm, the strength of the Divine Power of Life controlled by the Goddess of Life was naturally self-evident.
Not long after, everything in the Forest of Life came into view.
Under the pale green sky, a vast forest spread out, and the rich life aura emanated from it. This forest spread out in a long strip right at the edge of the Divine Realm. Gazing into the distance from here, through the faint mist, one could see countless stars and many bizarre, colorful lights.
This was the true edge of the Divine Realm. The Goddess of Life, as one of the God Kings, living here actually carried the implication of personally guarding the Divine Realm.
Seeing that they were nearing their destination, the Seven Deadly Sin Gods slowly descended toward the ground. They couldn't fly directly into the range of the Forest of Life; that would be disrespectful to the Goddess of Life. Facing a God King, they naturally had to use the most respectful attitude.
Of course, this kind of heartfelt respect, for the Seven Deadly Sin Gods, might only ever occur toward the God of Destruction as their Lord and the Goddess of Life as their Lady.
At this moment, they were still several kilometers away from the Forest of Life, but the Seven Deadly Sin Gods had already landed on the ground below one by one.
After a brief pause to tidy up their attire, the seven Gods of Original Sin then continued to drift toward the depths of the Forest of Life. Because this so-called "drifting" was an unspoken rule: to prevent life from being "harmed."
Even their Lord rarely disobeyed this point. Even though, in reality, the Goddess of Life had never made such a demand.
The closer they got to the Forest of Life, the more obvious the sensation of life became. With every breath, that rich life force cleansed the bodies of the seven gods. The fatigue from rushing over after receiving their Lord's message vanished into nothingness at this moment, and their essence, energy, and spirit very naturally returned to their optimal states.
The trees in the Forest of Life were very strange. The trunks were emerald green, as if carved from jasper, while the leaves displayed a translucent dark green. That faint life aura was precisely emanating from those dark green leaves. Even the lawn under their feet was incredibly soft; every blade of grass was full of vitality, making one somewhat reluctant to step on them.
All of this could be described as natural. If it were one's first time here, the scenery would leave them awe-struck.
But right now, the goal of the Seven Deadly Sin Gods was very clear. They still moved at extreme speed toward a certain direction deep within the Forest of Life. Because to them, no matter how much their Lord restrained his destructive aura, within the Forest of Life, it was as dazzling as a bright lamp in the dark of night.
A quarter of an hour later, the scenery ahead suddenly opened up.
Within this Forest of Life, a large clearing was revealed.
The clearing was covered with green grass and various blooming little flowers, a riot of colors, exceptionally beautiful. And here, there was the most concentrated life aura, as if every tiny particle in the air was condensed from life force.
Furthermore, not far ahead, a giant tree stood abruptly, and the surrounding clearing was entirely under the cover of its canopy.
The height of this giant tree couldn't be seen at a glance; its thick trunk couldn't be embraced even if a hundred people joined hands. The massive trunk blocked out the sky and sun, looking like a giant cloud with no end in sight. On every branch grew densely packed leaves, and the rich life aura seemed to continuously spew out from it. That rich life force was as if it were giving birth to countless little lives.
At this moment, the Goddess of Life was controlling the emerald-green light to descend. From the canopy, numerous tiny pale green light spots suddenly fluttered out, drifting onto her body. It looked as if she was enveloped in a bright light, setting off the Goddess of Life as even more peerlessly beautiful and pure. As for her side...
It was naturally the God of Destruction, whom life auras found difficult to approach.
However, the expression on his face right now wasn't exactly "strangers keep away."
"Lord, Lady." x7
Upon seeing the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life, the Seven Deadly Sin Gods immediately became respectful. They lowered their heads and bowed.
"You've come."
The God of Destruction swept his gaze over the seven gods and spoke in a low voice, "The reason I called you here this time is that he has already begun your Seven Deadly Sins trial, so I'm letting you take charge personally."
Saying this, he first fixed his gaze on the God of Greed.
Just this one look made the God of Greed understand. The first stage of this Seven Deadly Sins trial was his Greed.
As for the content of the trial...
After the Seven Deadly Sin Gods discussed it back then, the conclusion they reached was: Original sin naturally arises from the heart.
After all, their Lord had given them so little time back then, expecting each of them to come up with a qualified trial; they naturally couldn't do it.
So, before giving their reply, the seven of them had a discussion and settled on this current result.
Anyway, regardless of anything else, they, the Seven Deadly Sin Gods, would first join forces to set up an illusory yet real world. Here, apart from a person's true heart, nothing else would be carried with them.
And the so-called trial originated from their inner thoughts. Whatever the tested believed greed to be, then greed would take that form.
Then, based on this, they would just need to intervene in the details.
In the end, this result was adopted by the God of Destruction.
Thus, they had this gathering today.
"Greed, you will be the examiner for this first stage."
"Yes."
Hearing this, the God of Greed accepted the order.
Subsequently, the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life waved their hands together. The Divine Power of Destruction and the Divine Power of Life intertwined with each other, forming a vortex, and a scene subsequently manifested.
"Actually, to be honest, I think the most obvious original sin on this kid is greed. Precisely because of this, the first stage I chose for him is greed, to see how he makes his choices."
Hearing the God of Destruction's words, the Goddess of Life couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle. "Actually, it's not just this child. Isn't the biggest original sin on you the same as his most obvious one? After all, the single thought of coveting the expansion of the Divine Realm is also a kind of greed, isn't it?"
Being exposed like this by his own wife, which was actually a warning, made the God of Destruction, shrouded in his purple cloak, force a dry smile at the corner of his mouth before falling into silence.
This scene made the Seven Deadly Sin Gods lower their heads one by one.
As if they couldn't hear these words at all.
Coincidentally at this time, the scene in the vortex had fully revealed itself.
Seeing this, the God of Destruction said to the Goddess of Life, "You and I must act in accordance with our previous bet."
Hearing this, the Goddess of Life didn't argue with him either.
"Naturally."
She had said that earlier merely as a reminder.
...
"What kind of people do you think are the most greedy?"
"Important figures? Little people?"
"No, neither. Those whose virtue does not match their position are the most greedy."
"Simply put, when you are someone who has never experienced wealth, always living in a state where empty granaries make one disregard propriety and insufficient clothing makes one disregard honor and disgrace, and you suddenly obtain massive wealth. At that time, you will become the most greedy person."
...
"Fifth Brother, going to quarry stones again!"
A passing villager called out a greeting, looking at the white-haired man carrying a bamboo basket and holding tools as he headed up the mountain.
"Yeah."
The white-haired man turned his head slightly and smiled.
Fifth Brother Chen, a carving artisan living in a small mountain village, whose family had made a living by carving stones and the like for generations. Although he had an honest nature and exquisite craftsmanship, what good was such a craft in this kind of small village? A meager income went without saying.
But it was a craft after all, so how could he abandon it?
Besides, this was what his late father wanted him to pass down.
So, besides farming on ordinary days, he would go up the mountain to quarry stones and incidentally hunt to subsidize his family's income. After all, he was the only brother left, and there was a sick old mother at home who needed care.
As for food and clothing...
Which family wasn't hungry for one meal and half-full for the next?
Perhaps because of this seemingly ignorant persistence, or perhaps because of the anomalous phenomenon of "premature white hair," even though Fifth Brother Chen was an honest man, he was often teased behind his back.
Yet even so, his days went on like this.
As Fifth Brother Chen arrived at the foot of the mountain, he entered the mountain following his usual route. But as he walked, a heavy fog came from out of nowhere, forcing him to continue his ascent relying solely on his past memories.
At the same time, he stayed vigilant in his heart, lest a wild boar appear.
And all of this was watched by others.
Divine Realm, beside the Ancient Tree of Life in the Forest of Life.
"It seems his greed for this stage is wealth."
The God of Greed thought it would be becoming a god, the God of Pride thought it would be power... and the God of Destruction thought it would be his sect.
Who would have thought it would be wealth.
This most ordinary yet most representative word for greed.
"Didn't expect both of us to guess wrong. But... how come this kid is an honest man in here? I don't think he looks like one."
Saying this, the God of Destruction suddenly felt like laughing.
A super powerhouse below the god-level, a young genius aspiring to create his own divine throne, actually having the disposition of an honest man at his core. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem right?
"Did you guys make a mistake?"
The God of Destruction pointed at the image and asked the Seven Deadly Sin Gods.
"This..."
As soon as these words came out, the Seven Deadly Sin Gods looked at each other in dismay.
It couldn't be that they made a mistake, right?
But then again, it indeed didn't look like him.
"Enough."
At this moment, the Goddess of Life spoke up to interrupt everything.
"What's important right now isn't this, but continuing his trial." Saying this, she looked at the God of Greed. "Presumably, this heavy fog formed spontaneously because of the trial. As for how to design it, Greed, let us see your approach."
"Then please watch."
Mentioning this, the God of Greed pointed out from afar.
He separated a trace of his mind, arrived in this world constructed by Chen Junting, and took that step of "Greed."
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